The Silver and the Shadow
by Whiteclaw26
Summary: Silverpaw, A she-cat who has locked away her emotions. Shadowpaw, the mysterious rogue that recently joined Thunderclan. Silverpaw hates Shadowpaw because he resembles the cat that killed her parents. While Shadowpaw tries to help Silverpaw recover from her own grief and hatred towards herself. Can Silverpaw move on, or will she forever be trapped in her own despair?
1. Prologue

**So this is the first chapter of the fanfiction we're writing called Shadows, and it's also the first book, that i'm writing, that I actually plane on finishing. I made two more books, called Sun and Moon, but I quit writing them because I didn't enjoy writing it. So far i'm enjoying this series, but then again, I haven't really started the book yet so who knows what will happen? Anyways let's get onto the story, shall we?**

* * *

Allengences

Thunderclan:

Leader:

Foxstar - A wiry dark red tom with black paws and amber eyes

Deputy:

Graymist - A large, blueish-grey she-cat with glossy fur and green eyes

Medicine cat:

Fernleaf - A small, lithe cinnamon she-cat with hazel eyes

Warriors:

Redclaw - A sturdy, muscular brown with dark red paws chest and tail tip, has amber eyes

Apprentice, Silverpaw

Tigerstripe - A big, muscular, solid tom with ginger, white fur and black tabby stripes, has orange eyes

Apprentice, Rosepaw

Fallingbird - A small, lithe light ginger tabby she-cat with with long, soft, glossy, fur and amber eyes

Flowerpetal - A small she-cat with short, glossy, white fur and black spots, has dark blue eyes

Fangstrike - A sturdy, dark red, heavy tom with a torn right ear and orange eyes

Apprentice, Shadowpaw

Duskfur - A wiry, muscular tom with yellow-orangish fur and yellow eyes

Snowstorm - A pretty, fully white, sleek she-cat with blue eyes

Spottedshade - A massive, sturdy light gray tom with dark gray spots and green eyes

Shatteredsky - A muscular, long haired tom with a blue-gray pelt with broken swathes of black interrupting it and blue eyes

Apprentices:

Silverpaw - A small, pretty she-cat with sleek silver fur, has a white chest and light blue eyes

Shadowpaw - A skinny, wiry black tom with white paws and tail tip, has amber eyes

Rosepaw - A small, lithe white she-cat with red spots and blue eyes

Queens:

Dawnpelt - A graceful brown tortoiseshell she-cat with brown eyes and a long, thin tail (mother to Acornkit, a small, skinny light brown, tortoiseshell tom with a dark brown underbelly and brown eyes, and Amberkit, A pretty, lithe she-cat with reddish-orange fur and amber eyes)

Elders:

Lionroar - A massive golden tom with huge paws and green eyes

Mossleaf - A long-furred black-gray tabby she-cat with long, front claws and green eyes

Windclan:

Leader:

Heatherstar - A brown and black lithe she-cat with icy blue eyes

Deputy:

Rabbitfur - A white she-cat with a black muzzle, ears, a black tail tip and green eyes

Medicine cat:

Echobreeze - A small white and black she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice, Softpaw

Warriors:

Dawnpelt - A red tortoiseshell she-cat with hazel eyes

Apprentice, Gorsepaw

Fallenbranch - A brown tabby tom with black spots and brown eyes

Grassheart - A golden tabby tom with eyes that have different shades of green

Apprentice, Nightpaw

Featherspirit - A fully white lithe she-cat with dark green eyes

Hawkwing - A brown tom with a white chest and paws with dark yellow eyes

Apprentices:

Softpaw - A fully white lithe she-cat with dark green eyes

Nightpaw - A fully black tom with orange eyes

Gorsepaw - A orange tom with amber eyes

Queens:

Smallshine - A dark brown-black she-cat with amber eyes (Mother to Willowkit a golden brown she-cat with warm amber eyes, Thrushkit a brown-black tom with amber eyes, and Sunnykit a golden tabby she-cat with green eyes)

Elders:

Eagletalon - A skinny black tom with a black head and dark red eyes

Shadowclan:

Leader:

Darkstar - A black tom with white paws, tail tip, and chest along with a scar that goes over his right eye, has cold amber eyes

Deputy:

Cinderpelt - A gray she-cat with a white spot on her left eye, has light green eyes

Medicine cat:

Mudfur - A brown tom with different shades of brown in his pelt, has amber eyes

Warriors:

Sunflame - a orange golden tom with warm yellow eyes

Fearclaw - A large Gray tom with two scars on his face, one above his eye and the other on his cheek, has cold orange eyes

Moonlight - A Gray she-cat with a white chest and underbelly, has warm blue eyes

Apprentice, Boulderpaw

Snakefang - A dark brown tabby tom with green eyes

Adderjaw - A light brown tabby tom with green eyes

Hiddenshadow - A black lithe she-cat with a white chest, underbelly, and ears, has dark orange eyes

Apprentice, Rockpaw

Apprentices:

Rockpaw - A Gray tabby tom with a darker Gray tail tip and ears, has light brown eyes

Boulderpaw - A dark Gray tabby with dark brown eyes

Queens:

Pinedapple - A brown tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes (Mother to Barkkit a brown tom with dark brown spots, tail, and chest, has amber eyes)

Elders:

Tigerstep - An orange tom with a black right front paw and stripes, left eye is orange and right eye is dark orange

Riverclan:

Leader:

Creekstar - A lithe light blue she-cat with a darker blue chest and underbelly, has orange yellowish eyes

Deputy:

Puddlestep - A light blue she-cat with a different shade of blue for an underbelly

Apprentice, Stormpaw

Medicine cat:

Cloverleaf - A beautiful white she-cat with gray ears and underbelly, has kind, warm blue eyes

Warriors:

Cloudsky - A gray tabby tom with a ripped left ear, has light blue eyes

Fishleap - A gray-blueish tabby tom with dark green eyes

Rainshower - A light blue tabby she-cat with a white chest, has dark blue eyes with a lighter shades of blue interrupting it

Pebblecreek - A light brown she-cat with white spots, has hazel eyes

Frozenpond - A she-cat with a light blue pelt that looks like ice, has blue eyes

Wavewater - A she-cat that has a light blue pelt, and icy blue eyes

Apprentices:

Stormpaw - A light gray tom with darker shades of gray, has blue eyes

Queens:

Mistydawn - A blue-greenish she-cat with blue eyes (Mother to Troutkit a blue-greenish she-cat with dark blue eyes that get lighter as it gets closer to the pupil)

Elders:

Halfear - A white tortoiseshell tom with, left ear is ripped in half, has light brown eyes

* * *

Prologue

A she-cat, with a pelt like silver, padded through the undergrowth; tasting the air for the scent of prey, as she was on a hunting assignment given to her by her mentor. Her assignment was to catch a few mice before sunhigh.

This wasn't her warriors assessment; after all, she just became an apprentice yesterday. No, this was just to see how much she knows about stalking and catching prey, although she has no clue about what she was doing.

The she-cat's tail flicked unconsciously when she caught the earthly scent of, what she could only guess, a mouse.

She paused for a few heartbeats, trying to remember what her mentor said about catching mice before he sent her down this way. _I think you have to step lightly because they can feel your pawsteps on the ground right?_ She pondered that thought for only a few more heartbeats before she decided to go with it.

Dropping into a crouch she approached the area the scent was coming from, the wind running past her, the opposite direction of the mouse. Not even two heartbeats later she saw it, it was indeed a mouse, and it was nibbling on a seed that it, most likely, found lying on the ground.

She stalked closer to it, her tail waving behind her, and didn't realize that her tail had just brushed against some fallen leaves. She froze when it stopped nibbling on it's clearly hard-scavenged seed and looked in her direction. _Please, please tell me that It didn't see me_. She readied herself to jump after it, but by time she went to pounce it was already fleeing, fleeing for it's life.

 _Fox dung_ , she swore as she got out of the crouched position, _I should have been able to catch it! Why did it flee?_

"Silverpaw, are you wondering why it ran away?" She jumped and turned around to where she heard the sound of the voice and watched as her mentor, Redclaw, padded out from under the undergrowth. "It fled because of your tail."

"Because of my tail?" she asked, head tilted. "I did what I was suppose to right?" Redclaw sat down on the leaf covered forest floor and yawned, preparing to deliver a long lecture.

"Well when you were stalking it, the mouse, your tail brushed against fallen leaves; therefore, alerting it of your presence." He tilted his head and smiled. "Do you know what you should have done instead of waving your tail like you did?"

Silverpaw sat down next to her mentor and thought about what he asked her. After awhile, she abruptly remembered some apprentices talking about keeping their tail straight and level with the ground when she was a kit, she couldn't remember what for, but she decided to try it, just in case it was correct. "Instead of waving my tail like I did," She tried, "should I keep it straight and level with the ground?"

"Correct," Her mentor purred, shaking his pelt as he stood up, to get rid of all of the crunched leaves and dirt that had up and embedded itself into it when he laid down. "Now that you know what you should have done, try to catch another mou-"

Silverpaw jumped to her paws, "Really? Thanks!" She exclaimed, already tasting the air for the scent of mouse getting ready to charge off; however, before she could do so, Redclaw raised a dark-red paw to stop her.

"Now hold on there, little one, let me finish," she stopped tasting the air and faced him again, crestfallen. "as I was saying, try to go and catch another mouse. You have the rest of the afternoon to catch one, so take your time. You may depart from me now."

"Ok, thanks Redclaw!" Silverpaw happily mewed. She padded a few fox lengths away before she decided to taste the air again. _Hmm I don't really scent anything… I wonder how scents travel._ Silverpaw decided to go to the abandoned twoleg nest; which, from where she was at, was on the other side of ThunderClan territory.

She ran off towards the direction where she thought the nest was, and after a few heartbeats of running she decided to take a break and see if there was any prey around. She skidded to a halt and tasted the air. _Hmm, I scent squirrel- or, at least, I thinks that's squirrel- mice, and something metallic, kinda reminds me of what mouse blood smells like._

Silverpaw decided to investigate where the scent was coming from and see what it was. After a few heartbeats she arrived to where the scent was the strongest. _Whatever the scent is must be on the other side of these bushes,_ she thought.

She stalked through the grass, careful not to disturb whatever it was, and was startled when she found a pair of amber-eyes glowing in the dark back at her, the eyes blinked and vanished, and she presumed whatever it was had gone into hiding, like it wouldn't dare attack her, of all things.

She continued towards the scent and started breaking into a run, the scent was _definitely_ not a mouse, her heart quickened as she remembered what the scent of cat blood smelled like, and from the scent it smelled like Thunderclan.

She shook her head, _I must be delusional, the clans are at peace, there's no way Thunderclan would be attacked right… right?_

As she came to the place, she crouched down in a nearby bush, hidden away. She looked through the bushes to a horrific scene, she wasn't exaggerating, there was a clearing with blood splattered everywhere, an unrecognizable body near the center.

The body might have been unrecognizable, but the scent wasn't, her entire body felt weak as she smelled her own mother's scent, the body was that of her _mother_.

And right next to her mother's body was her father, pinned, pinned under the claws of an amber-eyed cat, her father was struggling underneath the monsters paws and she saw him, the cat who was about to kill her father, bend his head to her father's ears, and whisper something in a low tone, afterwords digging his claws into his throat and stomach, turning as he did so.

She felt sick to her stomach as she watched her father die right in front of her. _No… please no..._ _please let this be a nightmare, I couldn't live with myself if it's not._ Silverpaw shook her head, and whimpered. She felt tears coming to her eyes. _Mom… dad... please get up! You can't be dead, you just can't._

She tore her gaze from her father's body to see the amber-eyed shadow looking at her. The cat's cold, hard gaze boring through her, his claws leaving deep gouges in the earth.

* * *

 **Whiteclaw: Well this chapter took way too long to make… oh well… at least it got done.**

 **Wildspeaker: I know it took meh awhile to get around to helping ya out, but now that we got past our writers block we can move forward with our work.**

 **Whiteclaw: Yea it did take you awhile to help me out… what the hell man. Also disclaimer I don't own warriors, and please favorite, follow, and review** _ **my**_ **story not his. Jk his story is amazing you all should go check it out, but be warned his story isn't a Warriors fanfiction it's a Wings o Fire one, and yes, Wings o Fire. :3**

 **Wildspeaker: Nice sellout, but anyway, speaking of stories, that's one of the things that made me late. But now we are back on track, and we will be updating our stories every other friday. So today, of course, even though it's Sunday, was his update day and next week will be mine. :)**

 **Whiteclaw: Yea we really didn't have a plan to when, where, what story we were going to right throughout the week, so this got uploaded a few days late, but hey, now we do! :D Also I haven't read the new warriors arc yet, and I probably won't so if there's some conflicting things in this story that is false in the actual story so don't blame me, blame Wildspeaker. ;3**

 **Wildspeaker: Yea blame me, cause I definitely control the financial aspect of our lives. This chapter was really sad though… y'all welcome...**

 **Whiteclaw: Yea it was… I wonder how it will effect Silverpaw in the future… oh wait… I do know…**

 **Wildspeaker: Gee, I wonder…**

 **Whiteclaw: Anyways till next time. See y'all later.**

 **Wildspeaker: ^**


	2. Chapter One

***Edited this in after the Chapter was uploaded* Just realized that the name of this story was identical to another warriors fan-fiction on this website, previously named Shadows, so I decided to come up with a new title so no-one would get confused. I really don't have anything more to say so let's get** **onto the story, shall we?**

* * *

 **Chapter One**

The sun's rays trickled through the leaves above Silverpaw, dappling the ground with it's luminescence. The warm breeze rushing through her fur as she raced through the undergrowth. She desperately tried to catch something before it reached its hide-away, safe from cat's paws in the labyrinth that was their burrow. _Almost… so close… got it!_

Silverpaw leapt through the air, landing on its back and delivered a killing bite. _This rabbit can feed two full grown cats!_ She thought as she looked down at the hare, she quickly buried the fresh-kill and moved on to find anything else that might be near. She caught the scent of vole and quickly raced towards it, her mouth watering, as she drew nearer she slowed her pace and dropped into a hunter's crouch, very carefully advancing through the leaf-ridden undergrowth.

She stopped as her target came into view, pausing as the vole raised its head, whiskers twitching, and she tensed, ready to pounce, as it looked in her direction. The vole went still, staring at her for a long moment, and she pounced before it could get away. She delivered a killing blow to the rodents spine and she stared in horror as the body of the vole started shifting, shifting into the broken, bloodied body of her father.

Silverpaw jumped away from his body and slowly backed away with terrified eyes. She spotted blood start to seep through the cracks of the trees that surrounded her in ever direction, circling around the clearing faster and faster, pooling at the center. The blood just kept pouring nonstop, and she couldn't look away, couldn't close her eyes, they were glued open, on her father, who was being covered in blood. As the pool of blood closed over his head, she saw two severed heads float to the top of the blood pool, their eyes open.

By this time the trees have stopped pouring blood, and the forest has gradually gotten darker, until she could barely see anything. Silverpelt wasn't present to give off it's heavenly light, neither was the moon. She found she could move now and glanced around the place, sensing an aura of death and decay, and looked back at the heads, throwing up as she did. _The heads… m- my… my parents heads! They are actually following me with their eyes!_

"You are a failure... "

"Failed to protect us..."

"Didn't stop it..."

"I can't bring myself to call you my daughter anymore..."

"It's your fault... You just stood by, watching the shadow of the night kill your father, and you did nothing!"

"No!" She screamed tears forming, "I didn't do it! I couldn't help you!" She collapsed to the ground, the pool of blood surrounding her stained her pelt a crimson shade of red. Tears falling from her face, mixing with the blood below her. "Please… make… it…. stop..."

"It's your fault... you just stood by, watching the shadow of the night kill your father, and you did nothing!" The dream-world was fading, and her breathing slowed. The voices that were whispering all around her were fading into the darkness, "avenge us… kill the amber-eyed shadow..." The dream faded around her, and the coarsed voices stopped.

* * *

"... silver…" Silence. "Silverpaw? Silverpaw, wake up..." More silence. "SILVERPAW!" Silverpaw jolted awake from her nightmares, gasping.

"Silverpaw, are you OK?"

Silverpaw raised her head to see the rose spotted white pelted sister, Rosepaw, who was looking down at her, concerned. She shook her head, still breathing hard and on the verge of crying.

Rosepaw waited a little for any other response and sighed, "Come on, we have to gather for the border patrol," Rosepaw said, flicking her ears at Silverpaw's unresponsive figure.

"Maybe..." Silverpaw responded, her breathing slowly returning to normal, "maybe... I just want to go back to sleep."

"You can't sleep anymore, we're supposed to leave right now," Rosepaw was already heading out the entrance, looking over her shoulder, "you might want to get some thyme before you meet with us, you will find us at the sky oak."

 _Arg, do I have to? Not the thyme, I'm in favor of thyme right now. Why do I have to go on a border patrol?_ She looked around the den, which was empty because the clan hadn't had any kits in a long while. _Because a clan without border patrols, is a clan that's too lazy to feed its own mouths,_ the mature side of her answered, _stop sulking and get up._

Silverpaw forced herself upward and exited the den, heading for the medicine den, on the way there she stopped by the fresh-kill pile and fished out a vole. When she stopped at the medicine den she saw that a bundle of herbs was already prepared for her, Fernleaf resting beside them, in the entrance of her den.

She walked over and dropped her fresh-kill to sniff at the herbs, curious as to what Fernleaf was giving her, the entire clan knew that she was depressed after all, some thought she faked it for a while.

"Lotus root, heather, acai berry and thyme," Fernleaf said, making Silverpaw jump, Fernleaf was now sitting upright and surveying the camp, "to help with anxiety, depression and how you perform during your patrol. I also put some heather in it as well to help you swallow them."

"Thanks Fernleaf," Silverpaw said, bending her neck to lap them up, "I'm going to need these, can you prepare a couple of herbs for me tonight as well? I might have trouble sleeping." Fernleaf nodded, looking her in the eyes, "I'll give you valerian root, heather, chamomile, and poppy seed, to help with sleep and anxiety."

Silverpaw mewed her thanks and darted for the thorn tunnel, as she made her way to the sky oak, she quickly caught and killed a few small mice and a squirrel.

Silverpaw hastily buried her mice, deciding to carry her squirrel with her, and she headed towards the direction of the sky oak, sharp eyes taking in every small movement around her. When she arrived at the sky oak she took her spot next to her mentor, Redclaw, and her sister.

Every cat present gave her a stern glare. "I couldn't make it in time," Silverpaw said "so I decided to get some herbs from Fernleaf. I also forgot my fresh-kill at the camp, so I went to hunt a bit," she dropped her squirrel, "here Redclaw, I heard that you've left early so I found a squirrel, I know they are your favorite." Redclaw nodded in appreciation and the two settled down to eat, while Rosepaw and Tigerstripe marked the borders near the sky oak.

"You know," Redclaw started, burying the remains of his squirrel, "you don't have to be embarrassed about being late, every cat in the clan knows you need you herbs, you're also not as late as Snowstorm and Fangstrike," they both looked to the direction of the mossy clearing, "she is currently training with him on ShadowClan fighting techniques."

"I'm not embarrassed, it was one mistake, we make them all the time."

"I would recommend that you stop talking about us and get on with the patrol," Fangstrike mewed, making them jump, "Rosepaw and Tigerstripe are also waiting." Redclaw was already standing by the time he was finished. "I noticed," he looked upwards to the tree branches, "if your that impatient, then lets go, instead of being at each other's throat."

"I'm going to need some of you to renew the borders in the trees, preferable Rosepaw and Tigerstripe. Me, Fangstrike and my apprentice will continue the ground patrol. Snowstorm, I'm going to need you to organize a hunting patrol, you and Shatteredsky, make sure you tell Duskfur that he is on vigil until we get back."

"You taking over again?" Tigerstripe asked, genuinely curious, "I thought you stepped down as deputy." Redclaw looked over at him and gave him a warning glare, "I stepped down because I didn't have an apprentice, the only reason I did accept the position was because Greymist didn't want it, being the pacifist that she is."

"Let's just agree to disagree..." Snowstorm said, an amused look on her face, "seriously though, why do you both have to always get into an argument," she turned to the direction that the camp was, "we all have a mission right now, so lets carry them out."

Every cat nodded, faces grim.

* * *

Silverpaw quickly finished marking the last border as Redclaw told them that they needed to get back to camp, "Redclaw," Snowstorm called, jumping from branch to branch coming from the direction of camp, "you and your misfit group are needed in camp immediately, we've caught an outsider in our territory."

Fangstrike jumped, teeth bared, and Redclaw put his tail on his shoulder. "Fangstrike, just because he's an intruder doesn't mean you have to become hostile, who knows why he's here." Redclaw turned towards Snowstorm, "I need some information on this outsider, don't leave anything out."

 _He knows… my mentor knows the features of my parents killers, that or he's just being cautious._

"Small and wiry, fighter's stance, sleek black coat and wam amber eyes," Snowstorm said. The description made Silverpaws blood run cold, but when she heard the last part, she relaxed. _So what if this cat's described as having a fighter's stance, he was probably trained since kithood to fight for his life, he's probably a rogue. The cat who killed my parents had cold eyes, not warm._

When they arrived at camp they saw that the area surrounding the highledge was very crowded. Silverpaw wove her way through until she locked eyes with the outsider, and she noticed that his eyes _were_ warm amber eyes, as well as being a different shade than her parents killer. _Or a group of killers, if there's something bigger than we think going on._ Silverpaw shook her head, not wanting to jump to conclusions, she could be wrong.

"Rogue. What are you doing in our territory?" Asked Duskfur, shouldering his way through the crowd. "What is your intent?"

"First of all, if you must know, i'm here to join your clan," when he said this multiple cats let out a hiss, probably because the clan didn't want rogues in the midst of the camp, "second, i'm not from around here, and third, my home was destroyed and I heard that there was a group of cats by the lake."

"Where was this 'home' of yours?" Foxstar said, resting on highledge. "If you don't mind me asking."

The rogue nodded at the mountains, "my home was there, in the mountains, if you don't believe me, take a look at my pads," he laid down so he could stretch his pads outward, "to walk on all those rocks for so long you would have to have developed tough pads. I was a rogue there as well, hiding from a group known as the Tribe of Rushing Water."

"I'm sure you also noticed how wiry I am and how my coat is black, as well as my stance, this is because food was scarce and my coat helped absorb light, so I was warmer than most cats. I lived there my entire life, training myself to fight in case I was discovered on day, until they finally did find out where I was camping, and was driven out by sheer numbers."

While he was telling his life story, everyone went from suspicious to concern to anger, anger at the tribe, not him. When he was done Foxstar rose from his position on the highledge and beckoned the rogue to join him in his den, along with Greymist and Fernleaf.

Silverpaw walked away from the crowd, knowing that lingering wasn't going to help, they were going to see him later, depending on if he was permitted to stay. Instead Silverpaw padded out of the thorn tunnel to dig up her fresh-kill she buried earlier, and possibly hunt some more.

Silverpaw dropped into a hunter's crouch, eager to hunt for her clan. As she advanced into her clans territory, she caught the scent of thrush. _I must be ready to leap when it tries to fly away, if it tries to fly away. I won't go back empty pawed._

"Hey Silverpaw!" said a certain rogue, running toward her, not even caring about any prey, "The leader decided I can stay, my new name is Shadowpaw."

Silverpaw cursed under her breath, the thrush already flapping its wings to fly away. "Shadowpaw, you caused my prey to get away" Shadowpaw nodded, "yeah, I know. You don't need it anyway, have you seen the amount of prey in the fresh-kill pile..."

Silverpaw was silent. _Right. He came from the mountains, prey is rare there._ "Our clan isn't used to the way mountain cats eat, we have many mouths to feed, you only had to feed yourself."

"Good thing I don't have to worry about that..." said a slow, raspy voice.

Silverpaw turned around to see a blue and white blur barrel into her, effectively knocking her down. And almost immediately Silverpaw felt claws dig into her shoulders, drawing blood. "You don't know what it feels like to be hurt, especially on the inside, so i'll help you with that. I'm going to enjoy this..."

Silverpaw braced herself, ready for the pain to start, and start it did; the intruders claws embedded in her stomach. Silverpaw screamed out in pain, it was excruciating, but she felt the weight leave her soon before the white she-cat could do any serious damage.


	3. Chapter Two

**I'm back! Did you miss me? Once again this chapter took to long to write, and for that I have to excuses, I just got lazy. ;-; Anyways I finished it! :D So here it is. To be honest I don't think it's the best thing I've ever written, but oh well, whatchu going to do. Thanks for reviewing and following/favoriting.**

 **Clearsight: Thanks! :D**

 **Guest: ?**

 **Well on to the story.**

Chapter Two

Time seemed to slow down as Shadowpaw watched the intruder landed on Silverpaw. The strange she-cat clawed Silver's stomach, and he felt something he has never felt before, anger, he felt a powerful surge of uncontrollable, overwhelming anger. He's never felt this way before especially when… when things like this happened. He's watched his friends die. Not being able to do anything about it. All he could was stare and watched as… as… _no! I won't allow you to hurt anyone else,_ Shadowpaw thought, _you've taken too much from me!_

Shadowpaw dug his claws into her side, heaving her off Silverpaw. Shadowpaw then struck her repeatedly with his claws, leaving wounds all over, and he was sure she would bleed out even if he didn't finish her off.

"Reaper, what are you doing with the enemy?" Ice narrowed her eyes, "your not actually going to finish me off, after all, you don't like killing anymore." Shadowpaw hesitated, Ice had hit his soft spot, _What am I doing, I can't finish her off!_ _ **Finish her, if you do, you will not have problems with her anymore… Silverpaw will be safe.**_

That decided him, Shadowpaw raised his paw to snap her neck, and brought it halfway down, almost ending her life. Shadowpaw hesitantly stood over her, pelt slick with blood, then he looked over his shoulder at Silverpaw, whose eyes were wide with shock and terror, "y-y-you almost killed..." she swallowed, "you could have broke the warrior code!"

Shadowpaw's eyes widened as he realized what he had almost done. _I almost killed again_. He looked down at his claws, feeling sick. _These damn claws. Why… why do I do the things I do?_ He shook his head, and looked up to see Ice leaving their territory. He looked over at Silverpaw, who was currently trying to get back on her feat.

Shadowpaw padded over to her, planning on helping her up; however, as he neared Silverpaw's head shot up and she glared at him. "Stay away!" She growled. Shadowpaw flinched at the hatred in her eyes, but then again, he deserved this, he almost killed a cat after all. Silverpaw got to her feat and padded away not looking back once, leaving Shadowpaw standing there in the forest alone, alone with his thoughts.

 **Your a monster! You almost killed a cat even though you promised yourself you would stop! Now look at yourself. Covered in blood… once again. You can't do anything right except** _ **murdering innocent cats!**_ Shadowpaw shook his head to clear it from all these thoughts and started to pad back to camp, tail down and ears flattened. **You monster! Your nothing but a monster! No wonder she doesn't like you!** He felt tired and his head started to hurt. **Monster!** The world started to spin around him. **You good for nothing** _ **monster.**_ He thought he heard someone calling for him, but before he could look up to see who it was the world around him went dark.

* * *

Shadowpaw slowly opened his eyes only to be welcomed with a massive headache. Groaning, he tried getting to his paws only to collapse. _Wow, my head hurts. It feels like I rammed it into a tree a couple hundred times._

Shadowpaw looked around and noticed a cinnamon colored she-cat sitting next to some pile of leaves, whispering something that he couldn't quite hear. He saw a small puddle of water next to his nest and reached to lap it up. When he was done he looked up to be greeted by the she-cat who was whispering to herself, she was looking at him with concern.

"Good to see that your awake, but you probably shouldn't move till your wounds are healed," She mewed, getting up from whatever she was doing, "you wouldn't want to make them worse now, would you?"

Shadowpaw watched as she made her way towards him and touched his head muttering to herself. "Look what you've done," She said sighing. "I'm going to have to replace the poultice now."

She moved away from him and walked towards the piles of leaves that he noticed earlier. "Now where did I put those herbs?" She moved to a crack in the wall and reached inside, pulling out some more of those strange leaves, "here we go."

"Um, excuse me, not to sound rude or anything, but I don't know your name," Shadowpaw meowed, wondering whether or not to trust her. "and how did I get here. The last thing I remember was me being in the forest hearing someone call out my name.."

"Oh! Sorry, my name is Fernleaf and I'm the medicine cat for ThunderClan," She explained, looking at him for only few moments before getting back to whatever she was doing, "as for how you got here, Rosepaw found you on the ground outside camp and screamed for help. Everyone thought we were being attacked until we saw you on the ground covered in blood. I thought you were dead when I arrived, thank StarClan you weren't, we've had enough deaths so far." Her voice went quiet at the mention of deaths.

"When I noticed you were breathing I immediately went to work. Cleaning off the blood and everything, the only weird thing is that you had barely any wounds. Yes you had some wounds, but none major enough to have done that would have caused you to faint, and you didn't lose a lot of blood, and to this day it still puzzles me." Fernleaf explained, eyes narrowing and tipping her head to one side.

"Wait did you say, 'to this day'? how long have I been out?" He was confused, it seemed like he was only sleeping for a little bit.

"It's been three days since the incident with you collapsing, we tried asking Silverpaw what happened to you but she didn't answer." Fernleaf explained quietly, eyeing him.

"Silverpaw? How is she? Is she ok?" He asked, worried for his fellow apprentice.

"Yes she's fine just a couple of minor wounds on her stomach." She answered, seeming amused.

Shadowpaw let out a sigh of relief. _At least she's ok. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to her._ "So, when will I be able to leave?" He asked, curious.

Fernleaf jumped when he asked her that, "well," She said, "I don't see anything major, and whatever made you collapse out of nowhere doesn't seem to be happening. I have my suspicions of what made you collapse like that, but I'm not to sure." Standing up with some weird ball like thing in her mouth. She continued towards him setting the ball of leaves next to him.

Fernleaf nudged his wounds with her nose, humming. She then pulled a couple of leaves from the ball and chewed them up into a weird paste like thing. She then spat them out on his wound, afterwords spreading a leaf over it, pressing it down on his wound.

"This should do," Fernleaf said, looking at her work, "try to get up now."

Shadowpaw slowly stood up on four shaky legs, almost falling, but he caught himself. Fernleaf nodded as he succeeded in standing. He tried walking forward only to fall backwards into his nest. Fernleaf shook her head and sighed.

"At least you can stand," she said, eyes closed in thought, "to be honest I don't why you can't stand too well, as for why you fainted I might have an idea, but for me to know for sure I need you to explain to me _everything_ that happened before you passed out. I promise that whatever you tell me I won't tell anyone else, not even the clan leader, Foxstar."

Shadowpaw looked at the ground deciding whether or not to believe her. If he told her what was going through his head would she tell the clan leader, especially when he told her about the voices? Shadowpaw looked her in the eyes and decided to tell her the truth.

"Well. After getting my name I saw Silverpaw leave camp and I wanted to know where she was going, so I decided to follow her. She was hunting when I found her and I accidently scared away what she was hunting, so she got mad at me for doing that. I tried explaining to her that the fresh kill pile was already full, but I don't think she listened to me. After a little bit we, well more like Silverpaw got attacked by a bluish she-cat. I leaped to help Silverpaw, but the intruder already clawed her stomach. When I reached the intruder, I flung her off of Silverpaw and relentlessly attacked her." He looked down at his paws as he continued. "I… I almost killed her, the intruder. I heard a voice tell me that if I killed her she wouldn't bother anyone ever again. So I almost did. Thank goodness I stopped before I slit her throat. I got off of her and turned around to see Silverpaw on the floor staring at me in fear."

He paused before he continued, not sure how she would take the next part. "I tried to help her up but she told me to leave her alone… after she left I started to hear voices telling me that I was a monster and that I was good for nothing, but killing cats." He looked up at Fernleaf expecting her to look at him with fear and shock, but instead she looked concerned.

She closed her eyes again only to reopen them after a few heartbeats, "Shadowpaw, with the amount of days you've been knocked out, you might have had a mixture of shock and blood loss as for why you were hearing the voices I think you might have PTSD. How you got it I have an idea, but I won't pressure you into it," Fernleaf curled around him as if to comfort him. She licked his forehead, "I'm sorry for whatever you had to go through, but I promise that it won't ever happen again."

Shadowpaw felt himself calm down and lean into her warmth. It reminded him the dreams he had of his mother, how she used to be… before she… before she… it doesn't matter. He closed his eyes and soon he was asleep.

* * *

Shadowpaw woke up the next morning and looked for Fernleaf, noticing that she wasn't in her nest. He looked around the den and noticed that she wasn't near her leaves either. He slowly got to his paws and to his surprise his legs weren't as shaky as last night. He decided to try walking forward, he tested each step he took as if he were standing on a thin layer of ice, he then slowly made his way to other side of the den.

"Oh your awake!" Shadowpaw jumped and turned around to see a small white she-cat, who kinda reminded him of Silverpaw, standing in the entrance of the den. The she-cat bounced up to him. "Glad to see you awake. I thought you wouldn't wake up for another two days."

"I'm sorry, but who are you?..." Shadowpaw asked, confused as to why this she-cat was acting the way she was. The she-cat stopped bouncing around him and looked at him.

"Sorry about that, my name is Rosepaw. My sister is Silverpaw, you've met her already." Rosepaw answered, sitting down next to him. "I was wondering what it was like to live alone? Oh wait? How is it like to fight that interder? Did you see StarClan? Did yo-"

"Calm down, I just woke up." He said, yawning as if to emphasize that he was still tired. "Now to answer your questions. It's not that bad, interesting, and no… what's StarClan?"

Rosepaw looked at him as if he turned into a fox with a squirrel's tail. "'What's StarClan?' Are you serious," Rosepaw mewed in disbelief, rolling her eyes when he nodded, "Well, for starters, StarClan is a clan made up of our ancestors, who live in silverpelt, you can see them at night, they watch over us and protect us. Everyone who believes in StarClan will go there when they die, unless they do something terrible like Night. They shine so bright. Sometimes I like to go outside and just stare up at the night sky, admiring the stars, they're beautiful. I remember a story I once heard from the elders about a time when the clans stopped believing in StarClan; however, that was way before my parent's time, let alone mine."

Shadowpaw thought he saw Rosepaw eye's have a hint of sadness in them when she mentioned her parents, but it was gone before he was sure. He nodded at her in understanding. _StarClan sounds nice… I always wondered if there was someone watching over me,_ he thought, _to bad it isn't night, or else I would go outside and admire them. I never had time to admire then where I lived before._

"Do you want me to show you around our camp?" Rosepaw asked, looking at him expectantly.

Shadowpaw looked at her and nodded, Rosepaw squealed and started out the den, motioning with her tail for him to follow. He looked around the den once more before slowly following her out.

The first thing Shadowpaw was greeted with when he left was a bright light blinding him. He closed his eyes and waited a few seconds before re-opening them. The camp was very busy, kits running around chasing each other near a den, she-cats talking to each-other while keeping an eye on them. Silverpaw was talking with a brown tom with dark red paws near the entrance of the camp, there was a cat on the ledge, where the leader gave him his new name, giving orders to the group of cats surrounding him.

Shadowpaw spotted Rosepaw near the outside of an entrance in the cliff. He padded over to her, looking around to make sure he didn't run into somecat. When he arrived Rosepaw looked at him before turning around and looking at the entrance to the den.

"This is the apprentices den," She mewed, walking inside motioning for him to follow, "This is where the apprentices sleep, such as you, me, and Silverpaw. There aren't to many apprentices at the moment."

He looked around and saw that there were only three nests in the den. Rosepaw padded to one that on the right side of another. "This is my nest, and the one next to it is Silverpaws. The last one is yours."

Rosepaw flicked her tail, motioning for Shadowpaw to follow. When Shadowpaw exited the den, he saw Rosepaw over beside another den. Shadowpaw padded over to her, Rosepaw looked over at the den, "this is the nursery, where queens and kits stay, kits reside here until they are six moons old, and if there's any warriors available, they will be assigned a mentor," Rosepaw looked over at Duskfur, "sometimes we don't have any available warriors, so we assign the kits to the most experienced mentors."

Everything from Duskfur's posture to the way he scanned the camp with an expressionless face suggested that he sees himself as a superior veteran, and that he's been around for an extremely long time, that or he just had rigorous training. Shadowpaw was also pretty sure that Duskfur hated him, like his past and all his deeds were visible. _He could also just be cautious of my skills, i'm sure he's seen my stance, as if I'm expecting to fight at a moment's notice._

The only thing contradicting this was the fact that Snowstorm and Fernleaf also looked at him funny, Snowstorm was Duskfurs apprentice, so she might have seen the way Shadowpaw acts as well, but Fernleaf could just be wary of him, she was the medicine-cat after all, maybe StarClan has shown her a prophecy or vision.

"Duskfur is the oldest cat in the clans, not counting the elders," Rosepaw said, "he's also _the_ most experienced cat in all the clans, everyone thought he would become the deputy, but when the time came, he declined the offer, which confused all of us, but he had a lot of good reasons for it."

Shadowpaw looked a Duskfur. _Interesting… he could have been deputy and leader next… I wonder why he chose not to accept the deputy position._ He looked away and looked at the den that Rosepaw was showing him. It was underneath a bramble bush reinforced with roots, _probably for protection_.

As they entered the den the first things he noticed was the packed earth, though soft, was still packed enough to make sure that it didn't get into any cats fur, and the den was pretty much empty.

"The queens and their kits are currently outside, there aren't a lot of kits this season. It kinda has everyone worried; however we might have more kits soon," Rosepaw explained, probably noticing his confused look, "there are only two kits and one queen at the moment. The kits are named Acornkit and Amberkit, their mother's name is Dawnpelt who, incase you were wondering, is the mate of Foxstar, our leader."

Rosepaw tilted her head in thought for a few heartbeats, "I think I remember Fallingbird telling her mate something the other day, I wonder what that might be about. Wait… I think I might know what that is about."

Shadowpaw nodded in understanding, _She might be expecting kits. That'd be good for ThunderClan._ He noticed something, whenever he caught Rosepaw looking at him it reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite put his paw on it. Shadowpaw decided not to think about it too much, and carried on with the what they were currently doing.

As Rosepaw and Shadowpaw exited the den he looked around for Silverpaw, wondering what she was up to. And he spotted her near a fallen tree.

"Hey Rosepaw?" Rosepaw stopped and turned around looking at him with a confused look on her face, "can you tell me what that is for next?" Shadowpaw asked. He wanted to talk to Silverpaw for a little bit and make sure she was actually ok. Shadowpaw was still confused as to why he felt that way when he saw that cat attack her. After all… he's never felt that way before. He shook his head clearing it.

Rosepaw nodded, looking at him funny,, "I don't see why not." she mewed as she headed towards the fallen tree.

"So this den," Rosepaw mewed, as they approached the den he mentioned, "Is where all the warriors sleep. Warriors are apprentices who completed their training and passed their assessments."

"Assessments?" Shadowpaw echoed, looking back at her in confusion.

Rosepaw nodded and stopped at the entrance of the den, "Assessments are tests that a mentor usually gives their apprentice when they feel like their apprentice or apprentices are ready."

"Oh… that makes sense." Shadowpaw said. Rosepaw hummed in agreement and turned to the entrance of the den.

Shadowpaw looked at Silverpaw opening his mouth to say something; however, before he could get a word out, she walked away towards the entrance of camp. Shadowpaw looked away, confused as to why she did that. He looked at Rosepaw who looked after her sister in sadness. She sighed and turned to the den again.

"What was that about?" Shadowpaw asked, he wanted to know why Silverpaw avoided him and her sister. _Weird, I don't have any siblings and if I did I would want to be as close to them as possible._

"Well… a few days after mine and Silverpaw's apprentice ceremonies She went out to practice her hunting, her mentors orders. I heard she was doing great, especially for her first time; however she saw something that no cat should have to see," Rosepaw stopped tears flowing from out of her eyes, Shadowpaw moved next to her, comforting her.

She looked up at him and swallowed, "Thanks, anyways, as I was saying, She saw something that no one should of saw. I don't know what she saw. She didn't tell me, but when she didn't return to camp we went searching for her. We eventually found her in a clearing next to our parents bodies, which were all mangled and torn up. At first, just like you, we thought she was dead, she was covered in blood; however when we brought her back to camp Fernleaf noticed that she was still breathing, so we brought her to the Fernleaf's den and set her down in a nest. I volunteered to lay next to Silverpaw, to keep her company even though she was asleep, Fernleaf agreed. During the night, after everyone, including myself, went to their nest. Silverpaw started screaming, kicking out and saying 'No! Why! Please!' I quickly woke up Fernleaf, and helped her calm down Silverpaw. When Silverpaw woke up the next day I tried asking her some questions, but she wouldn't answer."

Shadowpaw looked at her in shock. _Wait… what… oh… oh no._ He felt some tears come to his eyes and he looked at the ground. _What.. wha-_ He felt someone's brush up against him and looked up to see Rosepaw looking at him in concern. He dried his eyes and nodded at Rosepaw to show that he was ok. _I promise Silverpaw. I will make you better, because you didn't deserve that… you didn't deserve to have your parents killed, and to watch it happen._

 **Wait what? Hmmm, something doesn't seem right here. As always review, favorite, follow, and now that the sellout is out of the way, I have a question for you all, what is your most favorite story that you've read on this website, preferably Warriors or Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland, but you can tell me whatever one you like. (Please tell me Warriors or Wings of Fire, I need more stories to read. ;-;) Also go check out my editor's story "Talons and Teeth" a Wings of Fire fanfiction. Anyways till next time everyone!**

 **Me: No wait… I didn't get to say anything… btw, me is Wildspeaker,**

 **Whiteclaw26: There, you said something. Now 'till next time'.**

 **Wildspeaker: I got to be fast… Hi.**


	4. Chapter Three

**Back… Sorry this took me so long to get out… I got lazy. Oh well, here it is now hope you enjoy the chapter.**

 **DappledLeaf: Sure I'll add them sometime in the future. Probably within the next few chapters (whenever I get around to writing them)**

 **Chapter Three**

Silverpaw felt a warm breeze flow through her sleek, silver fur as she padded around the clearing. She stopped and looked around, wondering where she was, as she'd never been to this part of the forest before, at least, she didn't think she had.

Silverpaw spotted a butterfly floating around across the clearing and she dropped into a hunting crouch. She slowly stalked her way closer and closer and closer yet. Waiting, waiting for that perfect time to strike, the time that seemed to slow down and signal her.

Then she saw her opening. She jumped nimbly at the butterfly and mewed angrily as she missed it. Followed by a mew of surprise as she landed into a fresh, and cold, pool caused by rain. She waded out of the pool and shook her pelt, trying to get as much water out of it as possible.

Silverpaw looked at her pelt in disgust, she circled and settled to groom herself. A few heartbeats later she got back up, once again trying to figure out where she was before she got distracted.

 _This doesn't look like Thunderclan territory,_ Silverpaw thought to herself, _as a matter of fact, this doesn't look like any territories that I know of. This could be a dream… yet… it doesn't feel like one_. She poked herself with a claw just to make sure and nodded when she felt some pain. _Hmm... definitely not a dream, maybe a vision. A waking vision._

"Silverpaw…" A voice whispered in her years. "This way..."

Silverpaw padded through the trees in the direction of the voice. Wondering where and what it was coming from. As she got closer to the voice the trees changed around her, before more… shadowy… not dead like the dark forest but… darker.

As Silverpaw passed through some bushes in front of her she froze as she Dead bodies in the middle of the clearing and some amber eyes staring at her, and to her surprise they belonged to a shadow in the form of the cat. _Beware the amber eyed shadow… beware… avenge us._

Silverpaw felt tears come to her eyes and her legs started to shake as she started to slowly backed away from the clearing, and the shadow cat... _Avenge us Silverpaw! Avenge us!_ Blood slowly started to pour from the sky soaking her fur and turning it a crimson red. She turned around and started to run away from the clearing crying, crying and scared for more than just her life. _Avenge us!_

"Leave me alone!" Silverpaw wailed, tears flowing from her eyes. Her legs gave out from underneath her and she collapsed onto some ferns, "I don't wanna hurt anyone!"

* * *

"SILVERPAW!" Silverpaw jumped up, tears still flowing from her eyes. She was greeted by the amber eyed shadow from her dream and she unsheathed her claws.

She saw him pad towards her and she braced herself, "Silverpaw calm down! It's just me!" Silverpaw came to her senses as she recognized the voice as Shadowpaw's and she sheathed her claws. Wiping her tears on her front paw.

"Silverpaw what's wrong?" Shadowpaw asked, Silverpaw could recognize the concern in his voice and she looked up from her paw and into his eyes, which were full of worry and pity.

"Nothing." She murmured as she padded out of the den brushing past him as she went. "Well, Silverpaw we're on morning border patrol so get ready!" He called out behind her and she flicked her tail to show him that she heard.

 _Time to go get my medicine,_ Silverpaw thought, _here comes my favorite time of day._ She arrived at the den and passed through the entrance. She saw Fernleaf next to the pool sorting her herbs for the day. Fernleaf looked up from what she was doing and gave her a smile,

"Your herbs are over by my herb storage." Fernleaf said, nodding to the crack in the wall. Silverpaw mewed her gratitude and went to get her leaves. She licked them up and swallowed, giving a little shudder as they passed down her throat.

"I'll never get used to these things." Silverpaw whispered to herself. She left the medicine cat den with a nod to Fernleaf and joined the rest of the morning patrol over by the entrance of the camp.

"So what border are we patrolling today?" Silverpaw asked as she approached the group. The patrol consisted of Fangstrike, Redclaw, Shadowpaw, and herself. Redclaw stopped talking to Fangstrike and looked at her.

"We're patrolling the rouge border today," Redclaw answered while Silverpaw tilted her head in confusion, "some patrols found some rogue scent over by that border yesterday, and we're assigned to make sure that no cat has crossed it and to send them right back over if they did."

Silverpaw nodded to show that she understood and noticed that Shadowpaw was staring at her. He looked away as soon as he noticed that she found him out and shuffled his paws.

Shadowpaw moved himself till he was beside her, "so," he mewed "do you think we're going to find anything."

Silverpaw shrugged her shoulders, "I don't think so," she answered, "even if we did it wouldn't take much to send them back over the border… I highly doubt they could do any real damage to any of us."

"Your right." Shadowpaw agreed, moving away from her. For whatever reason he looked happy, but she shrugged it off.

"Alright clan, time to go," Redclaw said to the rest of the patrol, "remember if we do find something make sure that we are together before you engage them, and yes there are multiple cats. We found about three different scents."

Redclaw took off into the forest and the rest of the patrol followed. Shadowpaw was behind him, Silverpaw and Fangstrike behind Shadowpaw to make sure that they didn't get ambushed. Rogues lately have been aggressive, but they never really hurt a clan warrior to the extent of death, at least in Thunderclan.

They arrived at the rogue border in no time, barely stopping to rest. Shadowpaw slowed down till he was right next to her. She flicked her tail in annoyance wondering why he was always trying to talk to her. _Why not talk to the other cats on this patrol?_ Silverpaw thought.

"So Silverpaw, I heard your story, at least, what you told Rosepaw." Silverpaw said, looking at her in the eyes, "she told me what happened to you a few moons ago, and if you ever want to talk about it or you need to be comforted just come to me… I understand how it feels to lose someone important to you..." The last part came out a whisper and Silverpaw had to strain herself to hear what he said.

"Wha-" Shadowpaw took off and settled beside Redclaw who looking at him confusion. Silverpaw stomped her paws in annoyance. _That cat is so infuriating!_ She huffed and started marking the borders. _I wonder what he meant by I understand how it feels to lose someone important to you… Who did he lose…_

Silverpaw shrugged it off and decided if he wanted not to tell her than so be it, see if she cared. She didn't care right? She thought she didn't. She shook her head to get rid of those thoughts. No of course she didn't care, after all she was pretty sure Shadowpaw killed her father and mother. She stomped her paws angrily. Why can't anyone else be at least a little bit suspicious or something, like seriously. He just waltzed right in and asked to join and no one really thought anything about him being a spy. _His little sob story really convinced most of the clan,_ she realized _._

Silverpaw snorted. _I highly doubt it was even true to begin with._ She looked up at Shadowpaw and he smiled at her. She quickly turned her head and once again felt annoyed by the amber eyed tom. _I can't believe Rosepaw even likes him._ She remembered the night before when all Rosepaw did was talk about him. _Oh he's so kind, and handsome, and kind, and did I mention kind?_

Silverpaw had to admit Shadowpaw was little bit handsome, but more suspicious than anything. She broke out of her thoughts when a strange scent crossed her nose.

"Redclaw! I think you should check this out." She called, following the scent. She heard a branch break and she turned around only to be surprised by a cat pinning her down.

"Yell and your dead." The tom whispered. Silverpaw gulped in fear and obeyed, "good she-cat, your coming with us. For whatever reason our leader wants to see you, and she hasn't really been in the best mood since he left."

 _Since who left_. She wondered. She didn't get to think about that thought long before she heard Redclaw's battle cry and the cat on top of her was knocked off.

"Are you ok Silverpaw?" He asked sniffing her pelt. She nodded and looked past him watching Shadowpaw fight off the attacker with moves she never even seen before. The strange tom seemed confused for a second before recovering and he started to fight back, even managing to claw Shadowpaw over the shoulder, drawing blood.

"Stay here Silverpaw," Redclaw ordered as he went off to help Shadowpaw, "The rest of the patrol should be here in no time, I hope they didn't encounter anyone."

Silverpaw's legs wobbled as she sat down and tried to calm her racing heart because of her near death experience… again… _you never truly get used to it do you?_ She wondered. She watched Shadowpaw fight and noticed another cat trying to sneak up behind him.

"Shadowpaw watch out! Behind you!" She yelled trying to get to second cat before it could attack him. She yelped as she felt something heavy land on her. She felt claws open the scars along her back and she felt tears come to her eyes. Her attacker flipped her over and started to claw her stomach

 _I can't die here! I still have much to do!_ Silverpaw kicked her back paws out trying to fling the attacker back, but the she-cat held on tight. _I'm going to die here!_ She struggled some more and saw the she-cat raise her claws for the killing blow. _I'm sorry Rosepaw, but I guess you're going to be the only one left in our family now._ She closed her eyes and waiting for the blow to come, but it never did.

Silverpaw opened her eyes and saw Redclaw and Fangstrike chasing the other cats away, but she saw something that nearly made her heart stop. Shadowpaw was on the ground with blood coming out of his neck. _He… he took the blow for me_. She stared at him in shock, _but why would he do such a thing for me_. She clawed her way over to him and took a closer look at his wound.

"Someone get help!" Silverpaw yelled holding her paws over the wound trying to stop the bleeding.

"Ha…" She shifted her gaze from his wound to Shadowpaw's face, noticing him smiling at her, "I guess I get to save your life again..." He coughed up some blood, some of it getting on her silvery fur staining it crimson, and he continued. "I really like living in a clan you know… everyone helps… each… other..." His eyes closed and his breathing slowed.

Silverpaw heard some cat approaching them and looked up to see Redclaw staring at Shadowpaw's form on the forest floor, with blood coming out of the wound on his neck.

"We have to get him back to camp, fast." Redclaw said, concern for his fellow clanmate could be heard in his voice, Redclaw looked over his shoulder and opened his mouth, "Fangstrike!"

Silverpaw saw Fangstrike's dark red fur push through the bushes and he skidded to a stop as he stared at Shadowpaw's body in shock.

"Fangstrike, we need to get him back to camp. We both probably should carry him to make sure that his wound doesn't get worse," Redclaw turned his head to look at Silverpaw, "you need to go find something to slow down the bleeding, preferably cobwebs."

Silverpaw nodded and stood up, ignoring the burning pain on her stomach and back. She noticed some cobwebs hung on a tree that a spider had made, probably thinking that it would be the most perfect spot to live a nice and quiet life. _Sorry little spider, but we need that more than you do._ She ran up to it and grabbed as much as she could, not caring how she looked.

Silverpaw ran back to the group and applied the webs to Shadowpaw's wound, trying to be as careful not to make it worse, after all, she was no medicine cat. She nodded to Redclaw and Fangstrike when she was done and they set off. They went the same way they came, but the trip back was longer than the trip there, they had to avoid many different obstacles that would harm Shadowpaw more.

Silverpaw just stared into nothingness not paying attention to where she was going, just barely consciously following Redclaw and Fangstrike. There were a few occasions where she ran into or tripped over something. She felt cold, and a little bit guilty. _Why did he do that for me? He barely even knows me, yet he took that blow, and i'm not even sure he'll survive it._

Silverpaw broke out of her trance when they arrived back at camp. Cats crowded all around them as they asked mountains of questions, but she barely heard what they were saying, their voices drowned out as she just stared at Shadowpaw, wondering whether or not he'd make it, and if he didn't… she would be responsible for one more death…

* * *

 **So that took way longer than it should've. As a matter of fact i've had this done for a long time, just never got around to uploading it. For some reason I didn't like this chapter and told myself I would change it, not sure why, I just never got around to it. Now that I reread it I don't mind uploading it. Guess I'm just lazy.**


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